The Legendary Mechanic

by <unknown>

  Through telepathy, Onicelu shared some of her memories like a grandma telling the story of when she was young.

  “It all started as early as the exploration era. In the long war, the first batch of Beyond Grade As was born. History calls them the Primordial Ones. Among the Primordial Ones, there were a pair of sisters whose Esper Abilities synergized with each other perfectly, but they were not related by blood. They were the ‘Controller of Death’ Nerkese and the ‘Mother of All Things’ Eros. Using their abilities, they created this Underworld dimension…

  “In the beginning, the Underworld dimension was nothing but a prison used to lock up the dead souls Nerkese had collected, as well as the followers of Eros. However, as the abilities of its two creators kept growing, the Underworld dimension obtained a new function—it became a world to the dead life forms where their consciousness could live forever.

  “Since you’re a Mechanic, in your terms, you can understand it as turning the memories and minds of those whose body died into data and uploading it into the virtual world, achieving a form of eternal life. The Underworld dimension is like the server. It stores the souls of countless life forms. Many powerful individuals in the exploration era chose to sleep in the Underworld. Because of that, Nerkese and Eros created me to manage the Underworld, as the grave keeper.

  “The two extremely talented founders didn’t stop there. Nerkese’s ability made souls not disappear in the Underworld, and Eros used her ability to create temporary body containers, which allowed those souls to regain life. Then, using the special energy formed by fusing their energy together, they could make the targets have the strength they had when they were alive, till the vital energy acting as their fuel finished. Furthermore, even if their body container died again, their souls could still return to the Underworld. Using this ability, the two of them created an extremely powerful army. To them, the Underworld dimension was also an enormous army camp!”

  Hearing Onicelu’s explanation, Han Xiao’s mouth twitched.

  Damn, so this is basically Edo Tensei‽

  What kind of luck is this‽

  Aurora had once mentioned that the Hila sisters’ abilities were rather similar to two of the Primordial Ones, so Han Xiao had done some research. He knew that the Mother of All Things was not as weak as Aurora. She had a ton of followers and had some kind of summoning ability. This was the first time Han Xiao had heard about the details of their abilities.

  Basically, the souls of countless strong individuals were stored in the Underworld. Through some kind of revival energy fused from vital energy and death energy, they could carry out ‘Edo Tensei’ and turn them into an enormous army. According to what the dimensional consciousness entity said, it seemed like the Hila sisters could become the inheritors of the Underworld.

  Did this not mean that the two of them could take the inheritance of two Primordial Ones? Fortune falling from the sky‽

  Spending a lot of time with Feidin indeed led to good things.

  While he was being pleasantly surprised, Onicelu’s tone became sorrowful.

  “Sadly, after the two founders died, the Underworld death energy had lost its energy supply and started to gradually wither. All the souls fell asleep, including me.”

  “How did they die?”

  Han Xiao was curious. The cause of death of the two of them was not recorded. It only said they disappeared.

  A ton of conspiracy theories appeared in his mind, but Onicelu’s response gave him a big surprise.

  “They committed suicide.”

  Han Xiao was stunned. “What… Why?”

  Onicelu sighed. “They kept developing their abilities, and one day, they had a sudden realization. They had been calling themselves the controllers of life and death all this time, but they had never experienced true death and new life. In their eyes, this was the only path that could develop their Esper Abilities to a higher territory. Hence, they decided to walk into demise to search for the true meaning of life and death…

  “Before their death, they told me not to grieve, that destruction is only the beginning of new life and that this is where they belonged. On that day, I watched them leave their bodies behind and end their own lives with my own eyes.”

  Han Xiao was puzzled.

  Excuse me, what is there to search for when you’re already dead?

  Could it be that these two were extremists and never thought of this at all?

  Maybe, only those with this kind of mindset could be the first batch of great individuals to break the limit of Beyond Grade As. Maybe this was what it meant to be the Primordial Ones.

  As if she understood what Han Xiao’s expression meant, Onicelu shook her head and said softly, “I know what you’re wondering. Before their consciousness completely perished, there was a short moment where they were alive, dead, and in between. At that moment, I received the last message they had left me. They said they’d found the true meaning of life and death.”

  “And what’s that?” Han Xiao was intrigued again.

  “Heritage.” Onicelu’s tone was soft and gentle. “They said that heritage is the true definition of eternity, forming full circles in the enormous system of life forms.”

  Han Xiao was a little bit speechless. Doesn’t everyone know that? You guys killed yourselves just to figure that out? You probably died for nothing!

  However, although he really wanted to say that, he knew that knowing something was one thing and experiencing it was another completely different thing.

  On many occasions, the key to a higher territory was that kind of sudden flash of insight. This was especially true the stronger the person was.

  “Their deaths did not go to waste,” Onicelu said. “They’ll pass down this deepest understanding to the next generation.”

  Han Xiao was shocked. With disbelief, he said, “Are Hila and Aurora really the reincarnations of those two Primordial Ones?”

  Ames looked surprised hearing this too.

  However, Onicelu shook her head.

  “Reincarnations? Not at all. They died completely. Their souls perished, and their bodies were also dissolved by me to supply energy to the dimension. Other than this Underworld, they left nothing. They put all of their experience in their Esper Abilities. The Esper Abilities are what’s inherited.”

  “I still don’t understand…” Ames was lost.

  “After they died, they left the seeds of the Vital Energy Esper Ability and the Death Energy Esper Ability,” Onicelu explained patiently. “These are neither physical nor energy-formed objects but of a higher dimensional data form. I don’t know why that happened, but I know that if I had kept those seeds, no one in the entire universe would have awoken those two Esper Abilities ever.

  “Therefore, to complete the dying wish of the two founders and to save myself, I sent these seeds back to the main universe. I knew that one day in the future, they would blossom on two new lives…”

  Onicelu paused, smiled, and said, “Do you guys really think it’s a coincidence that there is only one pair of blood-related sisters with Vital Energy Esper Ability and Death Energy Esper Ability in the entire universe?”

  Having heard of such a secret, the Great Mechanic Han felt like his fragile heart was shocked.

  This meant that Hila and Aurora had no direct connections with those two Primordial Ones at all; they were only chosen by the data-form Esper Ability seeds and became the Vital Energy Esper Ability and Death Energy Esper Ability owners of this generation.

  The two Primordial Ones fused their understanding into the data-form Esper Ability seeds so that those who were chosen by them would slowly receive the information and experience within. This was basically indirectly increasing the talents of their inheritors.

  No wonder it was so easy for Hila to acquire new abilities and talents!

  “Data form…” Han Xiao could not help but have even more speculations.

  He still remembers that during one of his Racial Evolutions, there was a [Multi-Dimen
sional Shadow] option that seemed to be related to data forms.

  Before he could think further, Onicelu spoke again softly. “That’s all I know. After the two founders died, the Underworld started to gradually wither and could no longer keep itself sealed from the outside world. Its size started to shrink, its space wall started to break, and souls fell asleep one after another. I had no choice but to store them all in the dimension core to prevent them from perishing. However, I’ve become weaker and weaker. I fell asleep as well. When the Underworld shatters completely, these souls will disappear.

  “The energy source of the Underworld is the energy of the Vital Energy Esper Ability and the Death Energy Esper Ability. Not long ago, I finally obtained some of it when I subconsciously absorbed the energy from the sisters of this generation, which barely woke me from my long sleep. Only then did I stop absorbing their energy.”

  Han Xiao thought about it. “Not long ago… it should be when Hila and Aurora were studying their life link. No wonder the energy they transferred was absorbed. That makes sense. This means that the Underworld dimension is actually the medium of the life link between them…”

  This time, Onicelu shook her head and said calmly, “The bodies of the two Primordial Ones helped me to last a very long time, but that depleted long ago. The Underworld needs stable, long-term energy suppliers. Please bring them here as soon as possible. I don’t know how much longer I can last.”

  As soon as she said that, Han Xiao received a notification in the interface.

  _____________

  You have triggered the mission [Inheritors of The Underworld].

  Mission Introduction: The Underworld is the heritage of the previous owners of the Vital Energy Esper Ability and the Death Energy Esper Ability. The dimensional consciousness entity Onicelu has realized that she is getting weaker every day. She hopes that Hila and Aurora can become the new inheritors.

  Mission Requirements: Help Hila and Aurora inherit the Underworld dimension.

  Reward: 50 Million EXP, +20 Onicelu Favorability, 1 Character Summon Card.

  Bonus Mission Requirement: Help the Underworld return to its peak state.

  Bonus Reward: +40 Onicelu Favorability, [Mark of The Underworld].

  Chapter 1079. Rich Reward |

  “A mission…”

  Han Xiao glanced at the interface and had a rough idea.

  According to the basic rewards, he knew that helping Hila to take over the Underworld dimension would probably not be difficult. The only tough part was the bonus requirement—god only knew how much energy it would take for the Underworld to reach its original state, but even draining Hila dry would probably not be enough.

  However, since it was an inheritance from the predecessors, there was no reason to reject it.

  [Mark of the Underworld] was quite tempting for Han Xiao. Its effect granted him the right to control the secondary dimension to a certain extent, similar to the Mark of Evil Convergence, which Traveler had. At the same time, it would also increase his strength to some extent.

  Furthermore, he could also dray the soul of the enemies he killed into the Underworld. This was equivalent to basically getting part of Hila’s power as a part-time soul collector.

  Along with the Favorability reward from this mission, it seemed that this mission was saying that he did Onicelu a great favor, so she was willing to let him use her body.

  When he thought of it this way, it seemed quite exciting…

  Han Xiao searched his memories. In his previous life, Hila did not display any ability related to the Underworld dimension, so the Underworld had probably perished before she discovered it.

  After all, the main reason Hila discovered the Underworld came from when she tried creating a life link with Aurora. Without the energy the Underworld absorbed when they transferred energy to each other, Onicelu would not have awakened.

  In his previous life, however, Aurora was long gone, and Hila was alone. Without Aurora, she most likely never discovered the Underworld dimension and missed out on the inheritance.

  At the same time, even if Hila did obtain the Underworld dimension, without Aurora, they would not be able to summon or Edo Tensei anyone…

  In conclusion, the Germinal Organization leader was truly a great man.

  All kinds of thoughts flashed past Han Xiao’s mind. In the end, he nodded at Onicelu and said, “Alright, I’ll bring them here very soon to meet you.”

  “I’m counting on you.” Onicelu smiled.

  Then, she disappeared and hid away. She had already said everything she needed to, and with very limited energy that she had no way of recovering, she did not want to waste any of it.

  Han Xiao and Ames were the only ones left. He turned around to look at her and saw that she was pondering. It was clear that she was shocked and had yet to recover.

  This was not without its reasons. Initially, the two of them only wanted to come and take a look at the place for Hila. Never did they expect to run into this chain of incidents. First, they met Traveler and beat him into a pulp, then were attacked back an unknown fleet. Clotti went missing, the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy became disabled, and in the end, they met the Underworld’s dimensional consciousness entity and discovered this shocking secret. There was too much information to process.

  It was said that every lucky guy seemed to run into trouble most easily. Why did he never notice that Ames was talented in this area?

  However, overall, Han Xiao was more pleasantly surprised than shocked. He had captured the Holy Light Particle, triggered a few new missions, and obtained some secret information. The rewards of this trip were quite rich.

  Although part of the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy had been snatched away, it could still use its powers. When he put it this way, it did not seem like he had lost anything at all.

  As for the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy’s agony, Han Xiao was actually not really concerned. As a great man once said, everyone had different reasons to feel sorrowful or joyous, not to mention the difference between people and Esper Ability entities.

  Dealing with the Holy Accord would take a lot of planning. The main mission now was to help Hila inherit the Underworld.

  Having thought of that, Han Xiao patted Ames’ shoulders and said, “Stop daydreaming. It’s time to leave.”

  Ames regained focus and chuckled with joy.

  “I never thought Hila and Aurora would meet something like this. I’m proud of my students.”

  “Yes yes yes, your students are amazing.” Han Xiao interrupted her. “Having met something like this, we’ll have to cut our schedule short. I’ll have the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy take you back to Black Star Palace to bring Hila here, what do you say?”

  “Of course, it’s a great idea.” Ames smiled.

  Han Xiao nodded and ordered the Mysterious Energy Host to grab Ames. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared. The Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy’s ability to cross between secondary dimensions was much more convenient compared to mechanical devices. It would not take long for them to return.

  He was the only one there. After some thinking, he took out his communicator and called the dynasty’s secondary dimension frontline station. This time, he contacted the dynasty’s person in charge who was stationed there.

  After some time, the communication went through, and Guzar’s face appeared before his eyes.

  The moment Han Xiao saw this face, he was stunned for a second.

  Zhang Fei?

  Yoho, I was mistaken. That sure startled me. This is way too similar to Zhang Fei’s face…

  This time, Guzar’s loud voice sounded with an impatient tone.

  “Black Star, we suddenly lost the location of Dark Lord. Where did he go?”

  “We were attacked by a mysterious fleet. He was exiled into the chaotic space streams…” Han Xiao explained the process briefly with emphasis on the technology of the Holy Accord.

  “These weaklings actually troubled him? Clotti is really get
ting rusty,” Guzar murmured with dissatisfaction.

  “It happens, it happens…” Han Xiao dry coughed trying to change to the topic.

  Guzar caressed his beard and mumbled, “However, their technology is indeed unique. If taken by surprise, I might end up the same way too… Hey, Black Star, do you know their identity?”

  “Nope. However, if you guys want to investigate them, I suggest you start with the records of the birth of the Primal Esper Ability Entities. This organization undoubtedly has more than one Primal Esper Ability. Other than that, there’s nothing else I know.”

  Han Xiao had very limited knowledge about the Holy Accord organization in this era. Therefore, simply mentioning its name might not only be not very effective but also bring him more trouble.

  “Understood, I’ll relay your information up. They dare to attack the dynasty’s man. We will certainly dig them out and teach them a lesson,” Guzar said with a deep voice.

  Han Xiao nodded.

  Getting the dynasty to chase after the Holy Accord would at least cause them some trouble.

  With the power of advanced civilizations, they might really be able to notice something.

  Guzar complained for a while to vent his anger before he finally calmed down. He sized Han Xiao up and could not help but give him a passionate invitation.

  “Black Star, I have always wanted to meet you. Come to my place if you have the time. We’ll have to know more about each other.”

  “There’ll be chances in the future.”

  Han Xiao agreed with a smile while being quite contented in his heart.

  The fact that a powerful Beyond Grade A actively came to him meant that his networking skills were finally reaching their peak.

  The Great Mechanic Han knew who Guzar was; he was a direct Beyond Grade A of the dynasty who was stationed in the secondary dimension. Before this, he had never come into contact with him, but in his memories, this guy seemed quite strong. Sadly, he died too early in his previous life, before the World Tree version.

  Speaking of which, the secondary dimensions were one of the battlefronts during the World Tree war, and the battles there were just as bloody as in the main universe. The research labs and the outposts of the three Universal Civilizations were almost all destroyed. Compared to the stable spacetime of the main universe, the strange and unpredictable secondary dimensions seemed more dangerous to many.